Industry has sought dedicated special economic zones (SEZ) for e-commerce exports, trade pacts<\/a> with African and Latin American countries especially to push automobiles in those markets and a reduction in non-tariff barriers imposed by the European Union<\/a> on certain marine exports from India.

In a meeting with commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal<\/a> on Monday, various industry associations also asked the government for clarity on the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP<\/a>) scheme as it is a reimbursement scheme and not an incentive scheme<\/a>.

“Most industry representatives raised issues related to RoDTEP and that the rates should be high,” said an official who participated in the virtual meeting.

This comes ahead of the Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS), a key incentive scheme for exports, being wound up by this month. RoDTEP will replace the MEIS. Rewards under the scheme are payable as percentage of realised free-on-board value (of 2%, 3% and 5%) and the MEIS duty credit scrip can be transferred or used for payment of a number of duties including the basic customs duty.

The RoDTEP will reimburse the input taxes and duties paid by exporters, including embedded taxes, such as local levies, coal cess, mandi tax, electricity duties and fuel used for transportation, which are not exempted or refunded under any other existing scheme